By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

An upcoming issue of [ Vegetarian Journal ] will include an article about plant milks. We’d like to give you a sneak peak at what we found about soy milks. To subscribe to Vegetarian Journal, go to [ http://www.vrg.org/member/ ]

We were able to find more than 80 different varieties of soymilk on grocery aisles and in the refrigerated section of grocery stores. In general, soymilks have more protein, and often more calories than other plant milks, making them a good choice for people who have higher protein needs – pregnant and lactating women, older people, elite athletes, and others. For some children, soymilks can be a very easy way to get in some extra calories and protein.

By Jeanne Yacoubou, MS
VRG Research Director

The VRG noticed “gellan gum” listed on the ingredient statements of several popular non-dairy beverages including Tree of Life®, Silk® and Pacific® products.

We asked KeHE® the parent company of Tree of Life® about its Vanilla Almond Beverage. We received a call back from a KeHE® customer service representative (KeHE® is the parent company) in August 2013 that the gellan gum in their almond beverage “…is not made of animal products…gellan gum is made from a bacterial culture [and] used as a thickening agent…It is a non-GMO product.” The ingredient statement can be seen here: [ http://www.iherb.com/Tree-of-Life-Unsweetened-Vanilla-Almond-Beverage-32-fl-oz-946-ml/42622 ]

By Jeanne Yacoubou, MS
VRG Research Director

Available only in Canada, Santa Fe and Mediterranean Signature McWraps® debuted in late August 2013. The VRG spoke with Ontario Customer Relations Specialist Diana in September 2013 to find out more information about the new wraps. We were told that both wraps can be made to order without milk- and egg-containing components such as the cheeses and sauces. All of the components’ ingredients are listed on McDonald’s Canada website:
[ http://www1.mcdonalds.ca/NutritionCalculator/IngredientFactsEN.pdf ]

Rice milk is a popular plant milk, with usage ranking below soymilk and almond milk but ahead of other plant milks. Rice milk is the most common grain-based plant milk. Other grains used commercially to make milks include oats, quinoa, and a mixture of 7 grains. Grain milks are similar, from a calorie standpoint, to almond milk with 45 to 160 calories in an 8-ounce serving. As is true for other milks, flavored milks (vanilla, chocolate, carob, for example) will have more calories than unsweetened or original milks. Rice milk provides little protein and is typically lower in sodium than almond milk. Rice milk’s consistency is often thinner than soymilk or almond milk. Oat milk and 7-grain milk are higher in protein than rice milk but do not have as much protein as soymilk. Most grain milks have vitamin D, calcium, and vitamin B12 added although some products are not enriched and not all contain vitamin B12. If you’re relying on plant milks as a source of vitamin B12, be sure to check the product label.

Brown rice is the base for all brands of rice milk that we found. Pacific Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods 365 brand are made with organic rice. Some varieties of Rice Dream are organic – this is indicated on the package. Pacific oat milks are organic as are their 7-grain milks and Dream Blends’ products. An upcoming issue of Vegetarian Journal will have more details about grain milks.

6) SHOP AT VEGETARIAN SITE AND SUPPORT THE VEGETARIAN RESOURCE GROUP OUTREACH AND RESEARCH

For the month of October, TheVegetarianSite.com [ http://www.thevegetariansite.com ] will donate a portion of every sale to The Vegetarian Resource Group. TheVegetarianSite.com offers vegan clothing, accessories, footwear, personal care products, groceries, gift baskets and more. You were going to buy this stuff anyway, so why not get cool veggie stuff AND support our outreach by buying from TheVegetarianSite.com?
Thank you in advance to TheVegetarianSite.com and you for your generosity!

7) PARENT CONCERNED ABOUT NUTRITION INFORMATION PRESENTED IN HER CHILD'S SCHOOL -- VEGAN OPTIONS TO DAIRY

A parent wrote that at her son's middle school they were going to teach
nutrition using a dairy industry lesson plan. Her family is vegan and
wanted to know how to address her concerns.

ANSWER: It's a good idea for you to meet with the teacher and present
your concerns. One approach that may be effective is to point out that
the dairy program promotes its products, so its lessons will include
dairy products. Not everyone is able to use dairy products due to
allergies or lactose intolerance or is in an ethnic/cultural group that
traditionally uses dairy products. And there are those that do not include dairy for other reasons. Providing sound nutritional information about alternatives to dairy would be a fair and balanced approach. The USDA and US Dept of Health and Human Services included vegan (non-dairy) meal plans in the 2010 edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Perhaps these could be presented as an alternative (see
[ http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/DietaryGuidelines/2010/PolicyDoc/Appendices.pdf ],appendix
We produce a vegan MyPlate which could be used:
[ http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/MyVeganPlate.pdf ] as a tool.

Including information about alternatives to dairy and meat would
certainly enhance this unit, especially since many middle schoolers are
curious about vegetarian diets and need sound information. Here is a
sample of the educational information which we have:
[ http://www.vrg.org/family/kidsindex.htm ].
You may also want to join our veg-parents list to contact other parents
who may have had similar experiences:
[ http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/vrgparents/info ].
We hope this is helpful.

9) VRG'S VEGAN VIETNAMESE DINNER IN HOUSTON, OCT 20

We're hosting a vegan networking dinner during the annual meeting of the
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics! The restaurant is walking distance to
the Houston Convention Center. VRG's Nutrition Advisor Reed Mangels and
VRG staff will participate in a discussion.

Menu subject to change. Please reserve soon as there is limited seating and the restaurant would like a count in advance. Please send $25 to The Vegetarian Resource Group, P.O. Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203. Or pay online at [ https://www.vrg.org/donate ] and write in Th Dinner and the attendees'names in the comments. Or call (410) 366-8343 between 9 AM and 5 PM Eastern time, Monday to Friday to pay with a credit card. Refunds only if we can replace your seat.

10) VRG'S PRE-THANKSGIVING VEGAN POTLUCK IN BALTIMORE

We hope you will join VRG and Vegan Drinks at the 32nd Annual Vegan Pre-Thanksgiving
Potluck Dinner on Sunday November 24, 2013 at 5:00 P.M. The dinner will be held at
North Baltimore Mennonite Church in Roland Park, 4615 Roland Avenue, Baltimore, MD
21210. Vegetarians, vegans, and the merely curious are invited! $4 per person, children
under age 18 are free. Please bring a vegan dish (and serving utensil) that serves
four as a contribution from each member of your party. Write ingredients of the dish
on an index card to accommodate special diets. Guests are encouraged to bring reusable
dishes and utensils to reduce waste. A vegetarian canned food drive is taking place
the same night. Consider donating!

Volunteers needed on the day of the event for set-up and clean-up.
To volunteer or for more information contact The VRG at vrg@vrg.org or call us at
(410) 366-8343. RSVP not necessary!

11) BECOME A MONTHLY DONOR

The Vegetarian Resource Group greatly appreciates the support given by our Monthly Donors. You can join our monthly giving group with a minimum gift of just $10 a month by going to www.vrg.org/donate. You will be part of a network of givers who support our outreach efforts on an ongoing basis. These donations allow us to continue vegan education in a wide variety of venues including schools, doctor and dietitian offices, libraries, various professional conferences, animal rights events, health fairs, environmental festivals, and much more. Thank you for your support!

12) JOB AVAILABLE IN DECEMBER, 2013

Vegan group seeks Jack or Jill of all trades good at multi tasking for part-time job 20 - 25 hours per week in Baltimore, Maryland. Position starts in December or January. Staff person clerically and physically ships vegan books, Vegetarian Journal, and other educational materials throughout the country. Does the billing, packing, mailing and marketing of items to consumers and wholesalers. Answers phone and e-mails. Coordinates volunteers doing booths, events, and other activities around the country. Entrepreneurial personality helpful. Please send resume, writing sample, and cover letter addressing your short term and long term goals, interests, vegetarian and vegan knowledge, salary requirements, skills strengths, and challenges to vrg@vrg.org

13) CHIPOTLE

According to the Huffington Post, nationally Chipotle will soon no longer make their pinto beans with bacon, and the beans will be suitable for vegetarians.
The black beans are presently suitable for vegans.

14) DEFOAMERS IN COMMERCIAL SUGAR PROCESSING ARE NOT ANIMAL-DERIVED

by Jeanne Yacoubou, MS
VRG Research Director

An online reader asked The VRG if cane or beet sugar processing involves any sort of defoamer like maple syrup production does. Defoamers (also known as defoaming agents or antifoaming agents) reduce or eliminate existing foam produced during manufacture. Foam generation is a common occurrence in the processing of many foods (such as vegetables) and beverages (including fruit juices) where proteins or starches are present. Foam is also produced when cleaning food items such as in egg-washing.

Among the FDA-approved defoamers (or ingredients permitted to be in defoamers because they have a functional role to play) are the following:

dimethylpolysiloxane

formaldehyde

mineral oil

polyethylene glycol

polyoxyethylene 40 monostearate

polysorbate 60, 65

propylene glycol alginate

silicon dioxide

Other defoamers (or ingredients permitted to be in defoamers because they have a functional role to play) listed by the FDA are “limited to use in processing in beet sugar and yeast” include:

aluminum stearate

calcium stearate

fatty acids

isopropyl alcohol

magnesium stearate

oleic acid

petrolatum

polypropylene glycol

soybean oil fatty acids

tallow

The VRG asked sugar and defoamer companies in September 2013 if any defoamers used today on a commercial basis in sugar production had been derived from animal ingredients such as tallow or animal-derived fatty acids (such as stearic or oleic acid both of which could be vegetable- or animal-derived). The sugar companies said no animal-derived ingredients were used as defoamers to process sugar once it arrived in their plants.

A senior level director at American Sugar Refining Group (one of the largest cane sugar companies in North America) told us by email:

In the refinery, we use a product…[that] is an ester of coconut oil. The raw sugar mill (which produces raw sugar that we refine) may use other approved products as well, but I’m not familiar with them.

Looking further into defoamers that are derived from coconut oil, we learned that one produced by Lambent Technologies may be used in cane or sugar beet processing. Specifically, it “aids cane or beet sugar crystallization and improves purity, increases exhaustion of final molasses, and overcomes problems resulting from hard-to-handle particulate.” [ http://www.petroferm.com/lambent/home.asp?Category_ID=241 ]

The VRG also contacted National Sugar Marketing LLC which sells sugar derived from sugar beets. A technical manager unequivocally told us by phone that they “absolutely do not” use animal ingredients as defoamers when processing sugar beets. Theirs are derived from vegetable or mineral ingredients. They do not use common synthetic ingredients such as silicon dioxide or dimethylpolysiloxane.

An employee from the Organic Defoamer Group told us when we called about their defoamers:

None that we sell are animal-derived…The kosher and halal trend means companies stay away from animal ingredients…[even though] animal fat is a good defoamer…Vegetable fatty acids are our most common ingredient.”

A lab technician at Emerald Performance Materials told us by phone that “none are from animal ingredients…they’re…synthetic mostly from petrochemicals…[they may] begin with fatty acids from vegetable oil.”

A Tramfloc, Inc. sales manager with 27 years of experience stated that their defoamers are “free of animal ingredients.”

When we asked the British company Accepta if it manufactured an all-vegetable defoamer that is not blended with a petrochemical, a representative replied that their product Accepta 2903 “has no mineral oil or animal oil content,” is “considered to be readily biodegradable,” and is “environmentally friendly.”

We learned from various companies during the course of research for this article that for sugar beets, there is an initial defoamer used to wash the beets coming in from the field then a second defoamer used after beets are sliced. The second defoamer is often a synthetic ingredient which is “significantly more expensive” than the first. Some residual defoamer is left in the final product although an estimation of how much is left could not be made.

ABOUT THE VEGETARIAN RESOURCE GROUP

Our health professionals, activists, and educators work with
businesses and individuals to bring about healthful changes in your
school, workplace, and community. Registered dietitians and physicians
aid in the development of nutrition-related publications and answer
member and media questions about vegetarian diets. The Vegetarian
Resource Group is a non-profit organization. Financial support comes
primarily from memberships, donations, bequests, and book sales. The
Vegetarian Journal, a print magazine, is a benefit of membership in
The VRG. (For more information, please see the Vegetarian Journal
online.)

If you would like to make a donation, become a member, volunteer, or
find out more about The VRG, contact us at:

The contents of this newsletter, and our other publications, including
Vegetarian Journal, are not intended to provide personal medical
advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health
professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information
from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a
statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes
can be made. Please use your own best judgment about whether a product
is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation
on your own.

ABOUT VRG-NEWS

VRG-NEWS is the e-mail newsletter of The Vegetarian Resource Group.
This is an announcement list so subscriber messages are not accepted
by the list. If you have a technical question about the list, please
contact us at vrg@vrg.org. If you have any suggestions, ideas, or
corrections to VRG-NEWS, please direct them to vrg@vrg.org. Thanks!

Contents of VRG-NEWS are copyright 2013 by The Vegetarian Resource
Group. The newsletter may be freely distributed in electronic or print
form provided its contents are not altered and credit is given to The
Vegetarian Resource Group, P.O. Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203.

The contents of this website and our other publications, including Vegetarian Journal, are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgement about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.

Any page on this site may be reproduced for non-commercial use if left intact with credit given to The Vegetarian Resource Group and each page linked to www.vrg.org